In 2025, AI image generation has become a part of many people’s creative routines, and MidJourney still stands out as one of the most talked-about tools, widely recognized as one of the best AI image generators of the year.
As its popularity continues to rise, whether you’re an illustrator, a designer, or just a regular user like me, one question inevitably comes to mind: Can you still use MidJourney for free? Over the years, there have been countless discussions about its pricing model. Some insist that free access has long been discontinued, while others claim there are still a few loopholes left. With so many conflicting opinions, it’s no wonder people feel confused.
So, what’s the real story? In this article, I’ll break it all down and give you a clear overview of MidJourney’s free access rules and current pricing in 2025.
MidJourney Pricing and Subscription Plans
First, I’ll give you a quick overview of MidJourney’s pricing and subscription options, so you can choose the plan that best fits your budget and needs.
| Plan | Basic | Standard | Pro | Mega |
| Monthly Fee | $10 | $30 | $60 | $120 |
| Annual Fee | $96 ($8/month) | $288 ($24/month) | $576 ($48/month) | $1,152 ($96/month) |
| Fast GPU/month | 3.3 hours | 15 hours | 30 hours | 60 hours |
| Relax Mode | ❌ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Stealth Mode | ❌ | ❌ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Concurrent Tasks | ≤3 | 3+ Queue | High | Highest |
| Monthly Image Generation Limit | Approximately 100 images | Approximately 500 images | Approximately 1,000 images | Unlimited image generation |
| Image Quality | Standard quality | High quality | Ultra high quality | Ultra high quality |
| Generation Speed | Medium speed | Faster speed | Fast generation | Fastest speed |
From my personal experience, the Standard plan is the best choice for a MidJourney subscription. It provides 15 hours of GPU time and unlimited access to Relax Mode. When you switch to Relax Mode, you use unlimited relaxed time, which means you can create as many images as you want each month without consuming your fast hours. Since Relax Mode runs at a slower speed, it’s perfect for projects where you don’t need instant results. For someone like me who just wants to draw occasionally without heavy use, this plan is more than enough.
Stealth Mode, on the other hand, keeps your images private so they won’t be publicly visible. It also gives you control over who can view your pictures and videos on the MidJourney website, letting you choose which content to share and which to keep private. If privacy is important for your work, I recommend going with the Pro plan, as it includes this feature.
Does MidJourney Offer Free Access in 2025?
Official Statement
Unfortunately, as of 2025, MidJourney no longer provides any official free access. In the early days, MidJourney offered new users 25 free image generations on Discord so they could try it out before deciding to subscribe. However, since April 2023, the company officially removed this free trial option, which means you now have to subscribe in order to use MidJourney.
Why Was Free Access Canceled?
The CEO of MidJourney announced the suspension of the free plan, and the reasons aren’t hard to guess. The 25-image free quota caused a surge of new users, which put enormous pressure on the servers in a short period of time. At the same time, many people created multiple accounts to repeatedly claim free credits, and some free accounts were even used to generate sensitive or inappropriate content. This increased the burden of moderation and maintenance for the team. To ensure a stable system and protect the experience of paying users, MidJourney ultimately decided to pause the free plan — a decision that remains in place today.
Common Misunderstanding: Joining Discord ≠ Unlimited Free Access
Many new users mistakenly believe that simply joining the MidJourney Discord server gives them unlimited free image generation. In reality, joining the server only grants access to the community, where you can browse channels and view others’ creations. However, all image generation requires an active subscription — Discord membership alone does not mean free, unlimited use. 😥
How to Use MidJourney for Free in 2025
Although MidJourney has officially discontinued free access, there are still a few ways you can get limited “free trials” or use it at a lower cost. Here are some common methods:
Watch for Official Events or Limited-Time Trials
The cancellation of MidJourney’s free access isn’t necessarily permanent, and there’s a good chance it could return in the future. For instance, last year when MidJourney 5.1 was released, the platform reopened free access for one weekend. Looking ahead, whenever a new model is launched or during special events, MidJourney may once again offer short-term trial access to a limited number of users.
Get Free MidJourney Credits Through Rita AI
Since MidJourney’s official free events are rare and usually very short-lived, many users end up missing out. But don’t worry — there’s a simpler and more effective way to get free MidJourney credits: using Rita AI.
Rita AI is a multi-functional platform that integrates a variety of advanced AI models, designed to boost productivity in writing, programming, design, and creative work. Its core model, Rita, offers intelligent conversation, writing assistance, image generation, video creation, and more. It also supports major models like MidJourney, GPT, Claude, Gemini Pro, and DeepSeek, giving you a wide range of tools in one place.
With Rita AI, you can use MidJourney for free to generate high-quality images that fit a wide range of design needs, such as social media covers, ad creatives, game character designs, and even artistic projects. Each image generation typically costs around 2–3 credits.
From my own experience, I’ve rarely run into lag when creating images with Rita AI. Whether it’s a simple picture or a complex scene, the whole process feels smooth and efficient. When I need to create something quickly, Rita AI’s stability and speed save me a huge amount of time, allowing me to focus more on the creative side of my work.
Through Rita AI’s shared subscription service, you can easily access MidJourney without paying extra fees, making it simple to produce high-quality visuals that support your design, creativity, and artistic projects.
Experience MidJourney for Free with a Shared Subscription Platform
fter MidJourney canceled its free access, I started looking for the most cost-effective way to subscribe. About a year ago, I came across GamsGo, and the moment I landed on their site, I was immediately impressed by the pricing. The MidJourney subscription there costs about one-third of the official price — almost like getting it for free. Over the past year, it’s given me a fantastic experience and has become my go-to choice for subscribing to the MidJourney Standard plan. 😋
Free Alternatives to MidJourney in 2025
Two months ago, I tested several popular AI image-generation tools that are considered some of the best free alternatives to MidJourney. Below, I’ll share the top ones that I personally recommend after trying them out.
ChatGPT: Powerful Image Generation
As GPT continues to evolve, it’s no longer limited to conversation and text generation — it now also supports free image generation. You simply enter your prompt in the chat window, and it instantly creates images without requiring complicated commands. Since it’s integrated with chat, you can refine and adjust your prompts in real time until you get exactly what you want. It’s especially good at handling complex logic and multi-element scenes, making it ideal for users who want an all-in-one solution for creation and generation.
GamsGo AI: Best Value for Money
GamsGo AI is currently the most cost-effective alternative to MidJourney. It integrates multiple models — including Flux.1, ChatGPT Image, Stable Diffusion, Ideogram, and Kling — and allows you to switch between them based on your needs. It also automatically optimizes non-English prompts, lowering the entry barrier for creators. With fast generation speed and sharp details, it’s particularly suitable for ad design and social media content.
Gemini: Versatile Styles
The biggest advantage of Gemini is that it remains completely free to use. Users only need to input a prompt and can receive diverse images within seconds — from photorealistic visuals to illustrations and futuristic designs. For everyday projects, Gemini is a great choice for creating social media covers, study materials, ad mockups, or other lightweight creative work.
Canva AI: Rich Templates
Canva AI combines a simple interface with a huge library of templates, making it easy even for beginners with no design background to create professional-level visuals quickly. One of Canva AI’s strongest points is its intuitive drag-and-drop workflow, which allows you to generate and edit designs seamlessly — whether it’s for social media posts, presentations, or posters.
Microsoft Designer: Extra Credits
Also known as Bing Image Creator, Microsoft Designer is powered by Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI, giving users free access to the DALL·E 3 image generator. The quality and controllability of its outputs are excellent compared to many paid tools. Free users get 100 boost credits per month, which provide faster generation speeds and higher priority. If you want more, subscribing to Microsoft Copilot Pro grants additional daily boost credits.
Meta Imagine: Low-Barrier AI Creation
Meta Imagine, created by Meta (the parent company of Facebook), is trained on the vast amount of public images collected from Instagram and Facebook over the years. This gives it strong capabilities in understanding prompts and generating realistic visuals. The tool is completely free for all users, making it a low-barrier way to try AI art. The only drawback is that every generated image comes with a small watermark, which may limit commercial use. However, for practice, entertainment, or casual social media sharing, it’s more than sufficient.
Conclusion
In this guide, we’ve confirmed that MidJourney officially discontinued its free access policy, and you now need a subscription to reliably use its features. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t more affordable options. Through the GamsGo platform, you can enjoy the same full service at a fraction of the official price, and with Rita AI, you can even get free MidJourney credits.
Beyond that, I’ve also highlighted several reliable free alternatives to MidJourney — such as Gemini, Flux.1, and Canva AI — each with its own strengths, making them suitable for different creative scenarios.
If you’re interested in AI image generation and want to balance budget savings with high-quality results, the methods shared in this guide may help you find the solution that works best for you.
FAQ
1.Is MidJourney better than ChatGPT?
If you want highly readable and precise visuals — especially for memes, educational materials, or logos — go with ChatGPT 4o. If you’re aiming for visually stunning artwork and can tolerate a bit of inaccuracy (particularly when text isn’t required), then MidJourney is the better choice.
2.Which AI image generator has no restrictions?
If you’re looking for AI photo generators with little to no content restrictions, consider tools like Defucus, Dezgo, GamsGo AI, or CGDream. These platforms typically offer more creative freedom, fewer filters, and often leverage advanced models while allowing users to upload their own content.
3.Who is MidJourney best suited for?
MidJourney is great for creative professionals like illustrators and designers who want to quickly generate drafts or explore new ideas. It’s also suitable for everyday users experimenting with AI art, making social media covers, or working on personal projects. For business teams, MidJourney delivers high-quality visuals that can be used in advertising, product design, and marketing.
4.What’s the difference between Fast Mode and Relax Mode in MidJourney?
Fast Mode generates images more quickly, making it ideal for tasks where you need immediate results. However, it consumes more GPU resources and has higher priority. Relax Mode, on the other hand, produces images at a slower pace and with lower priority, but it consumes fewer resources, making it better for projects where time isn’t critical.
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